Half to frank shaw



n W. A. CHILDS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

BATTERY.

' (No Modell.)

No. 477,645. lPnedJune 28, 1892.

(No Model.) 25mm-sheen 2. W. A. CHILDS.

BATTERY.

Patented June za, 1892.

'rus onlus uns m, moro-umu., wAsumurun, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLTAM A. CHILDS, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IIALF'TO FRANK SHAW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BATTERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 477,645, dated J' une 28, 1892..

Application filed December 27, 1888. lSerial No. 294|'776. (No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that l, WILLIAM A. CHILDS, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of.

Englewood, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Battery, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the Inaunerof supporting the elements or electrodes ot' a galvani'c battery and forming an electrical connection between such electrodes and the clamping devices which serve for attachment of outside wires or conductors.

The object of my invention is to provide for a ready attachment and detachment of the electrodes, while at the saine time so organizing the devices that corrosion of the metal connections between the electrodes and the clamping devices shall be prevented and the clamping devices themselves shall not be exposed to corrosion.

A further object of my invention is to siniplify the construction of certain portions of that class of battery in which the electrode hangs from a cover-plate and has a bindingpost or other clamping device located above the cover-plate.

The invention consists in the special coin- Vbinations of devices and details of construction, that will flrst be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and then more particularly specied in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention as lapplied to an ordinary single-Huid battery; but the same construction is obviously likewise applicable to other forms of battery.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a vertical centralsection of a battery embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows a modification in the construction of the device which supports the negative or carbon elelnent. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of a part of the devices. Fig. 4 illustrates in vertical central section a modication in the manner of connecting the metal supporting-rod with the carbon or negative element. Fig. 5 illustrates in vertical central section a modification in the manner of applying a carbon head to either metal rod. Figs. 6 and 7 show in perspective other forms of carbon or negative element with which my invention may be used.

Referring to the drawings, B indicates the cover-plate of the battery, and A the negative or carbon element, here shown as formed ot' two cylindrical bodies joined in one piece at their top. Through a vertical opening D at the top of said element passes the rod E of metal, which rod extends upward through a perforation or opening in the cover-plateB and is there provided with a clamping-nut K, raised so as to bring the element A and other parts connected with the rod tightly against the lower surface of the cover-plate. The lower end of the rod E is provided with a head or enlargement F, which seats against the carbon element when the rod is raised, and also forms an electrical connection between said rod and electrode or element A. The head F is made of carbon or some other material which is not liable to corrosion and covers the exposed end of the rod E, as indicated.

One inanner of forming a head of carbon upon the rod E is to take a button having a vertical portion, as shown, and to pass the rod up through said button until the enlargement Gr on the end of the rod seats in a depression or is countersunk in an opening at the lower side of the button. The rod is secured in place by cement P2 poured into said opening. The cement protects the lower end of the rod in conjunction with the carbon of the button F. The button F is boiled in parafiine or otherwise impregnated with the same, so as to preventthe battery solution or liquid from reaching the metal of the rod. The carbon thus surrounding the lower por tion of the rod where it is to engage with the negative element might be treated in any other desired way suitable for forming an effectual protection against the access of battery liquids or gases to it.

Surrounding the rod beneath the battery cover or plate is a washer or packing I, ofrubber., which rests, preferably, on the head F of the rod, and is drawn forcibly up against the cover-plate by means of nut K. When thus compressed against the head F and the cover,

the washer eftectually protects the rod at the portion thereof above the head F, and at the ICO within the battery with a nut..

same time seals the opening in the coverplate.

For convenience I screw-thread the rod E, and I also prefer to use the other end of the vsame as the clamping device for binding a wire or other connection. To this end the upper end of the said rod has a clamping-nut L, between which and the washer K the wire may be bound. It will be seen that in effect the rod E is the shank of the binding or clamping post on the top of the cover-plate and that the wire may be connected or disconnected without loosening the clamping-nut, which serves to hold the negative element up again st the copper plate. By this means the wire may be connected and disconnected without danger of impairing the joint between the negative element and the cover. The rod may be etfectually prevented from turning by inserting into its end G a small piece of metal I-I, with which the cement will engage.

I am aware that it has been proposed to hold the carbon element in place against the bottom of the battery-cover by means of a thumb-screw inserted through a hole in the battery -jar and provided at its inner end This plan is "objectionable for two reasons: first, because the nut is liable to be attacked by the battery acids and ditliculty may be experienced in releasing it, while, moreover, the thu nib-screw aifords no means for attachment of the battery-wire, excepting by winding the wire around the screw.

I am also aware that it has been proposed to support a battery element by means of a pin which is screwed through the cover-plate and has a binding-screw screwing into its eX- ternal projectingend to take one ot' the con ducting-wires. This plan is, however, also objectionable, because the element can only be det-ached by unscrewiug a part which is exposed from within to a greater or less eX- tent. It is also objectionable as forming a complicated arrangement.

Then the carbon element A is to be placed in the battery, all that is necessary is to pass the rod E through the center of the inner cylindrical portion of the said element so that its head will engage with the upper end of the element, while the rod itself will pass out through the opening D, and may then be passed through the cover-plate B for application of the binding-nut K and binding-nut L. The manner of attachment is obvious.

The opening D might be formed, as indicated in Fig. 2, as a conical opening; but the form shown in Fig. l is preferable.

The head F might be applied in other ways as, for instance, in the manner indicated in Fig. 5, where the rod E is cast into a recess in the carbon F. The same result might be obtained by molding the head F of carbon,

around the lower end of the rod E. The carbon of which the head F is formed is preferably treated as before. It will be observed that the non-corrodible head thus provided for the clamping bolt or rod is permanently attached to the same and is removed with the bolt when it becomes necessary to renew the carbon element. Hence it is a very easy matter to repair the battery in case the carbon element becomes broken, because 1t is only necessary to reinsert the bolt, with its attached head, through the opening in the carbon and clamp it in place, when the head ot the bolt will be protected against corrosion wlthout the application of pitch or cement; or 1n case the bolt becomes corroded or broken a new one may be inserted with equal readiness.

The rod E at its lower end where 1t engages with the carbon element might beprotected against corrosion in the manner indicated in Fig. 4, where it is shown as passing upward through a boss or projectionfrom the upper end of the carbon element, such boss or proj ection being parafned, as before, and the rod being held in place by cement appl1ed at P over the enlarged lower end of the metal rod. The special arrangement already described is, however, preferable to this modification, inasmuch as in the arrangement shown in Figet it is not so easy to apply the cement over the end ot the rod, and it is troublesome to paraftine the end of the carbon without applying paratiine to other parts. In other respects the results attained are the same as already described, the head of the metal rod being thoroughly protected against corrosion by being enveloped in the carbon treated, as described.

It is obvious that my invention is not limited to the forms of carbon already described, and I might use a negative element, such as that illustrated in Fig. 6, or even a solid element, such as indicated in Fig. 7, the rod E being in this instance passed sidewise into the vertical opening in thecarbon elementinstead of upward through said openings. In this instance, as in the case of Fig. l, it is preferable to form the rod with a head F of some material not vliable to corrosion, although, as is obvious, the modification illustrated in Fig. 4 might be utilized in connection with the form of element shown in Fig. 7, if the proper end of the element were parafiined. In this case the rod having an enlargement or head of metal would be passed sidewise into the opening and would then be cemented in place. The part exposed above the upper surface ot` the element would be protected by the washer I.

The metal or positive element or electrode of the battery is indicated at C.

M indicates a metal rod forming in effect the shank of the binding or clamping postv and tapped into the upper end of the element C. The element C is supported entirely beneath the cover-plate by means of the shank of the binding-post, as shown, said shank being provided at O with a nut or washer which draws the electrode upward against the lower surface of the cover-plate.

At N is a rubber washer around the rod IOC and between the cover-plate and the element C. rlhis washer serves to protect the metal rodagainst corrosion at the part projecting from the element C and included between the same and the lower surface of the coverplate. The washer N also serves to seal the opening in the cover-plate.

P indicates the clamping-nut for holding an attached wire. By means of the clampingnut P a wire may be attached or detached without loosening thetightening nutor Washer O. Hence there is no danger of impairing the joint between the element and the coverplate so as to allow the entrance of battery liquid or iiuid. i.

I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed to support the elements of galvauic batteries from the cover-plate by means of rods passing through perforations in the same and connected to heads or blocks provided with set-screws or clamping devices which serve to clamp thc elements of the battery. In such cases, however, the corrosion of the clamping devices'is a fatal defect. I myself have also before extended the electrodes themselves through the cover-plate, and do not therefore wish to be understood as claiming herein any such construction. I have described these rods as carrying outside of the cover plate suitable devices for clamping wires or conductors, and I prefer to use them for this purpose, thus making the downwardly-extending rod virtually the shank of the binding-post- I do not, however, limit myself to using the rod aspart of the biliding-post.

The construction herein described is especially suitable for use with that class of single-element batteries in which is employed a solution of sal-ammoniac, into which dip carbon and zinc plates, forming, respectively, the negative and positive electrodes.

While I have described the use of parafne as a material for treating the carbon element to prevent the battery liquids or gases from reaching the metal rod, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to such material, since other materials are known in the art which may be used for the same purpose for filling and closing the pores of the carbon against the entrance of moisture and gases. While therefore in my claims I claim parafiine as the material used in the treatment, I wish to be understood as including any similar material.

What I claim as my invention isl. In a battery, a metal screw loolt or rod having acarbon head, said bolt or rod passing upward through an opening in the negative element and through the battery-cover.

2. In a battery, the combination, with the negative element, of a rod E, integral throughout and passing through a perforation or opening at the top of said element and through the cover-plate, an attached head or enlargey ment which seats against the carbon element when the rod is raised, a clamping-nut K, engaging with the rod at its outer end outside the battery and adapted to raise the element and other parts connected with the rod tightly against the lower surface of the cover-plate, and a supplemental clamping nut L for clamping the battery-wire, as and for the purpose described.

3. In a bat-tery, the combination, with a battery element, of a supporting rod or belt having a non-corrodible head attached to .and removable with the rod, as and for the purpose described.

4. In a battery, a metal supporting-bolt having a carbon head and passing up through the negative element of the battery-cover, in combination with a tightening-nut on the outside of the cover, as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with the negative or carbon element, of a metal supporting-rod seated in a vertical opening in the parafiined carbon and having a projection upon its lower end engaging with the carbon and protected against corrosion, a perforated battery-cover, a tightening-nut applied to said rod on the top of the cover, and a protecting elastic washer between the cover and the element, as and for the purpose described.

6. In a battery, the combination, with the negative element, of a supporting metal rod seated in a' mass of carbon treated with paraftine, a perforated battery cover, and a washer surrounding said rod beneath the cover, as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination, with the ,carbon elcment, of a supporting metal rod passing through a vertical opening in said element and surrounded at its lower end by carbon saturated with parafiine, a supporting batterycover, and awasher surrounding the said metal rod between the lower surface of the cover and the battery element.

8. The combination, with the carbon element in a battery, of a supporting metal rod protected at its' lower end against corrosion by parafiined carbon, a perforated supportingplate, and a washer surrounding the rod, as

described, beneath the plate, so as to be compressed against the same around the opening, as and for the purpose described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 26th day of December, A. D. 1888.

VILLIAM A. CHILDS.

Witnesses:

WM. I-I. CAPEL, IRA R. STEWARD.

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